Snowpeak Christmas: REVISED
by Shadow Commando
Summary: Finalized Edition. Link and his family visit the ski resort on Mt. Snowpeak, but it seems someone is watching the young blonde from the shadows...literally.
1. Settling in

**Apologies to everyone, but I did not like the second version of SC at all, so I decided to redo it before Spring came. This is the third and final edit, I promise.**

Chapter 1  
(Faron Woods, Ordon)

The small imp sleeping under the bed opened her eyes and let out a yawn. She noticed the house seemed quiet and looked out from underneath the bed and saw why: the room was empty. She would have checked around the house to see if anyone else was there, but the digital alarm clock on the night stand told her all she needed to know. The Farons and their relatives would be leaving to the airport to go on vacation at around 2:00 PM today. It was 1:58.

She picked up her Fused Shadow Helmet and placed it on her head and then placed her hands together, disappearing in a cloud of black digits.

(…)

(Hylian Airlines Flight 316/Deku International Airport/2:00 PM)

"This is the captain speaking, please remain in your seats during take off with your seat belts fastened," spoke a man's voice over the intercom.

The Faron Family had decided to go spend Christmas at a ski resort on Snowpeak Mountain in Northern Hylia, so they all got on planes and would meet up at the Snowpeak airport at the base of the mountain. From what Link had heard, they wouldn't be the only ones going there. His aunts, uncles, cousins, and even his grandparents would be there, all in the same place, which excited him since he normally didn't get to see his grandparents, or his cousins, Joel and Zill, since they lived on Outset Island, down in the Dragon Gulf, and when he did go to see them, his other relatives stayed behind in Ordon, but at least this Christmas would be different.

Setting her pillow behind her head, Tetra Faron leaned back in her seat and was about to turn on her iPod when she noticed Link, who was in the seat beside her, next to the window, his eyes closed. It always amazed her what he could sleep through. Although, she'd never seen him fall asleep this fast before.

"You asleep already?" she asked.

His eyes opened as if he'd merely been deep in thought.

"Trying to," he replied.

"I'll bet you couldn't stay awake halfway through the plane ride," said Tetra, a smirk on her face.

"Are we betting?" asked Link.

"How bout 5 rupees? You fall asleep before 2:30 and you have to pay. If you stay awake till then, I pay you." said Tetra.

"You're on," said Link as the plane ascended into the sky.

(5 minutes later...)

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

Tetra sighed in disappointment. He wasn't even taking this seriously, though she couldn't blame him since it was going to be a long ride. She turned her gaze toward the flatscreen TV a few seats ahead of her and put on some headphones to listen to some report about the Zora Royal family going to some warmer part of the ocean for the winter, or something like that.

(55 minutes later...)

"Link…Link, wake up," said Tetra, nudging her brother awake.

"Hmm?" mumbled Link, opening his eyes for the first time in an hour.

"We're about to land," said Tetra pointing outside the window, indicating the ground below, which was getting closer as the plane descended.

Soon after, the plane came into contact with the runway and began to slow down. After it stopped, everyone got up out of their seats and either stretched, or got their luggage out of the compartments above their seats.

Tetra was going through her various utilities; iPod, laptop, gum, making sure they were all there while she waited for everyone to start leaving the plane. As she put everything back into her bag, she heard several distinct popping noises and turned to see Link bending and twisting himself in several different positions. He sure was a stiff.

"Too much time sitting down?" she asked, closing her bag.

"That, and I haven't used the bathroom in almost 3 hours," said Link, pulling his own bag out of the compartment.

"Poor baby," replied Tetra sarcastically.

"Oh and here's your blue," said Link, handing his sister a blue gem an inch long and a quarter of an inch thick, otherwise known as a rupee.

While most Hylian provinces identified rupees by their numerical value, Hylians from the southern province of Ordona named them by their colors, which, more often than not, made Ordonans seem unsophisticated in the eyes of their fancier Lanayru counterparts, though Ordonans dismissed it as proof that Northerners had no sense of humor.

Right about then, everyone onboard started moving toward the exits. The two blondes followed in suite. After worming through the jet way for what seemed like several minutes, they finally made it out and Link ran to the nearest set of doors with the familiar male/female signs above them, but in his haste, he ran into the wrong one. Tetra nearly fell over laughing, when she saw Link rush back out and into the right one.

"What's so funny?" asked a familiar voice from behind her.

"Link was in such a hurry to get to the bathroom that he went in the wrong one. He just ran back out and into the other one, though," assured Tetra, turning to face her dad, Rusl Faron.

"Did you see your aunt Sera or anyone else, yet?" asked Uli.

"Not yet, we were seated near the exit when we got off, so they're probably still getting out." replied Tetra.

No sooner had she finished when a small blond girl charged out of the crowd and wrapped her arms around Tetra's waist.

"Where's Link?" she asked.

"Is that the only reason you wanted to see me?" asked Tetra, faking disappointment.

Of the two siblings, it seemed the children of the family preferred Link. While this didn't bother her a whole lot, she wondered why it was so. Perhaps it could've been because Link was more of an outdoor person than she was and had an unusual knack for keeping the cousins entertained.

Right about then, Link came back, looking relieved and worried at the same time. Beth wasted no time in running up to him and strangling his waist like she had Tetra's.

"Will you carry me the rest of the way?" she asked.

"Sorry, Beth, you're heavy enough, already." joked Link.

Despite being his cousin, Beth often told Link she was his number one fan. Why she behaved this way, Link did not know, though he assumed it had something to do with him "being the big brother that she never had" as her mother, Sera, put it.

"I see your number one fan caught up with you again," said Sera, exiting the jet way with her husband, Hanch.

"And he's got you to take her off his hands," laughed Uli.

"So where's Gramma, isn't she supposed to be here?" asked Colin who was standing next to his mother.

She said she'd be in C5, so we'll check over there," replied Rusl as Jaggle, Pergie, and their sons, Talo and Malo exited the jet way.

They were about to head over to section C, but before they could even turn the corner, Granny came around and nearly bumped into them.

"Age sure hasn't slowed you down," said Rusl.

"You're only as young as you feel, my boy. Besides, it's not often I get to see the entire family together in one place," replied Gramma turning her attention to the children.

As always, she needed a hug from everyone, which took almost a full minute. Afterward, Link had to introduce to Gramma his cousins from the other side of the family. Gramma was Rusl, Sue-Belle, and Abe's mom, so Joel and Zill were cousins to Link from Rusl's side of the family, while Uli and her sisters, Pergie and Sera, were from the other side, which meant that Talo, Malo, and Beth had never met Link's Gramma from Outset Island before, but from what Link could see, the old woman seemed just as delighted to see them. Talo and Beth quickly warmed up to her, especially after she handed them candy, while Malo, still a baby, looked uncomfortable being around what he perceived to be a stranger, so Gramma handed him back to Pergie before he started making a scene.

"First time, I guess," laughed Pergie, holding Malo.

"Wait a minute, where's Grampa?" asked Tetra noticing Gramma was the only one who had met up with them.

"Oh, that's right, I left him back at the exit," replied Gramma turning and heading back toward Exit C. Everyone else had no choice but to follow.

They made their way past E and D and finally made it to C, but with so many people standing around, it was hard to tell where Grampa Sturgeon was since Link had never seen him, or anyone from Outset, wearing a winter coat before.

"So where'd everyone run off to?" asked Tetra.

"They're over there." said Gramma pointing to the baggage claim where everyone was picking bags off a conveyor belt. It was still hard to tell who in the crowd was from Outset since no one knew what coats they were wearing until Gramma walked up to a bald man who was the same height as her and must have told him about the rest of the family because then he turned around, revealing himself to be Grampa Sturgeon, and rushed toward everyone with his arms outstretched, wanting to hug everyone in the group, too, but he wasn't the only one. Link could also spy his great Uncle Orca, Grampa Sturgeon's brother, standing next to his shorter sibling. He could also see Aunt Sue-Belle with her husband, Mesa. There was also Uncle Abe and Aunt Rose. Link knew that someone was missing but couldn't quite put his finger on it with so many family members to keep track of, but then, out of nowhere came two small tots slightly younger than Talo and Beth. Link recognized them as none other than his other cousins, Joel and Zill, and barely had enough time to brace himself before they pounced at him, wrapping their arms around him.

The last time he'd seen any of them, Mesa had a bit of an acne problem, Orca hadn't worn a shirt (which slightly disturbed him), and Joel and Zill were babies. Now Mesa's face looked spotless, Orca had a big coat on, and Joel and Zill looked alot bigger than he would have liked them to.

"OOF!" oofed Link, nearly falling over, "You guys feel like you weigh a ton. Last time I saw you, I could almost hold you in my hands," said Link.

"Are you calling us fat?" asked Zill.

"No, I just meant you guys are heavier than you used to be, so ya gotta be gentle with me," replied Link.

"Oh really? You haven't even tried lifting us yet." said Joel grabbing Link's right arm.

"Yeah, I thought doing farm work was supposed to make you strong," said Zill, grabbing his left.

Link raised an eyebrow.

"You want strong, I'll give you strong," he said, lifting both his arms up slowly. With little effort, he lifted both siblings off their feet and had one kid hanging off each arm. The other adults, who had been talking, noticed the spectacle and applauded.

"Knew my grandson was gonna be big and strong someday," gushed Gramma, making Link roll his eyes.

"Whoa, I wanna be just like you when I grow up, Link," said Joel, thoroughly impressed.

"I see you haven't lost your popularity with the kids," said Aunt Rose who had just returned from the baggage claim with her husband, Abe, both carrying backpacks, presumably Joel and Zill's.

"I can take those," said Link taking both backpacks.

"Thanks, Link, you're the best," said Zill.

"So that's why they love you," said Uncle Mesa with amusement.

After everyone finished exchanging greetings, the pack got their luggage together and headed out the exit where a pair of vans awaited them.

"You Mr. Faron?" asked one of the drivers.

"That would be me, and this is the rest of my family." replied Rusl.

"Gotcha, one way trip to Snowpeak Mountain." said the driver as he and his partner helped everyone load their bags onto the vans. Then everyone climbed aboard one van or the other and the vehicles took them up a path through the mountain.

Link watched civilization give way to endless snow and tried to spot something interesting, but all he could see was-

"Oh look, more snow," said Mesa sarcastically, making some of the kids laugh.

But as they went higher up the mountain, they went past the tops of the surrounding mountains and were aw'd by what they saw. They hadn't even made it to the top and already they were at the top of the world for as far as they could see. Everything below them looked so tiny by the time they finally reached what looked like a huge mansion halfway up the mountain, ten minutes later.

"Daaaaannng, I thought we were staying in small cabins," said Talo, his eyes as big as the house.

"Whoever paid for all this must have been saving up for a trip like this for some time," said Tetra.

After getting their bags out of the vans, everyone entered the mansion while the vans drove away. The front room was massive, to say the least, and was mostly empty, save for two staircases going up the side of the room to the upper level, and nestled in the corners of these staircases were large Christmas Trees covered in decorations. While everyone sorted their bags out after setting them down, Tetra couldn't feeling mesmerized by all the ornaments, lights, and ribbons lining the room.

"Someone spent alot of money on this place. I can't begin to imagine how much it cost just to stay here a few days," she said to herself.

"Actually, it wasn't that bad. Me, Abe, Hanch, Sturgeon, and Orca all chipped in," said Rusl, getting his bags.

She hadn't actually intended for anyone to hear her, but now that the cat was out of the bag...

"Well tell em I said thanks," said Tetra, running off to explore the place.

As it turned out, the place had a large dining room next to an old fashioned kitchen, plus a series of bedrooms throughout the upper level, all with nice views of the snowy landscape outside, but best of all, the mansion had a snowy courtyard outside that was probably used for tennis during warmer seasons, but now that it was winter, the net had been replaced with a Christmas tree that not only dwarfed the other ones in the house, but outshined them as well with its lights and sparkly bulbs, all designed to withstand the cold.

After touring the place and ooh'ing and ah'ing at all the impressive parts, everyone picked out their rooms. Link and Tetra picked one closer to the front room where the two staircases were since that meant easier access to the downstairs.

After setting their clothes inside the dressers, both teens plopped themselves on the beds. Link quickly fell asleep (again) on the soft mattress after having sat in a chair for an hour while Tetra lay on her front side, looking at her laptop. There was no internet connection up here on Snowpeak, so she got her snow clothes on and headed outside.

(…)

Link's eyes opened slightly. He could feel his iPhone vibrating and pulled it out of his pocket and took the call without bothering to see who it was.

"Y'ello," he droned flatly.

"Ya gonna come out and join your cousins?" asked the voice of Link's dad, Rusl.

"Yeah, my bad. I was asleep," replied Link groggily.

"Oh, sorry. Are you still tired?" asked Rusl on the other end.

"Not anymore since I'm now awake," replied Link, "But how long was I out?"

"About an hour," said Rusl.

"I'mcomingout!" said Link quickly as he ended the call, grabbed his snow suit and boots and headed outside of his room and went down the staircase in the foyer of the mansion, putting on his coat, snow pants, gloves, and boots the entire way, until he finally had everything on and stumbled out the door to see Tetra helping Joel, Colin, Talo, and Mesa making the biggest snow man he'd ever seen. They'd already rolled one snowball around until it came up to their shoulders, and were now placing another snowball about 3/4 as big as the first one on top of it. All that was left was the head, which would be above everyone else's.

_That's a well done snowman, let's give it a big round of applause_. thought Link with a devious smirk plastered on his face.

He picked up some snow, rolled it into a ball, and sent it flying toward Tetra. It hit her in the back of the head, making a loud _clapping_ noise. Unfortunately, she was the one holding the snowman's torso up while everyone else lifted it, and the result was her letting go when the snow ball hit her and everyone else failing to prevent it from falling on Tetra's boot. Thankfully the large snow ball didn't break, and Tetra's foot was well protected, but she still looked steamed.

"I'LL GET YOU!" she shouted.

Link beckoned to her with his right hand and had a cocky smirk on his face that said _bring it_. This was easy for him to say since Tetra was temporarily stuck, thanks to the big heavy snowball on her foot, but that problem was solved when Mesa lifted the big ball of snow off her foot. Link took off toward the mansion and raced up the steps, dodging snowballs, and got inside the door and closed it just in time to block one that would have taken his head off. He then walked toward the main part of the house feeling relatively safe, until he heard the front door open. He looked back to see Tetra holding two snowballs.

She hadn't given up the chase.

Link's eyes grew to saucers and he turned around and ran for his life toward the family room and made it to the door just as a snowball exploded on the wall beside it. He then ran into the kitchen, knowing that probably wasn't the best idea, given the fact that Tetra didn't care about possible collateral damage, but his pride was at stake, so the bystanders would just have to suck it up for now.

He looked around the kitchen where Gramma, Uli, and Rose were cheerfully baking Christmas cookies. In a moment, all hell would break loose and it was up to Link to reduce as much havoc as he could by reducing his presence. There were two possible ways to do just that:

1) take the door across the room to the left,

2) hide behind the racks of pots and pans

The first option was assuming that the door didn't lead to a utility closet and would be too obvious, making the second option a better choice.

Link ran behind the shelves and crouched down, hoping Tetra would go for the door across the room from him so he could run back out the door he came in through. But then he realized he'd forgotten to tell the ladies in the kitchen why he was there, and he stood a good chance of being ratted out. Then the kitchen door opened and he heard Tetra enter the room. He was expecting her to ask where he was, but instead, he heard her walk over to the other door where he'd thought of hiding and then heard her open the door. This was his opportunity to escape. He peeked around the corner and saw his sister disappearing inside the room she'd entered, so he tip toed toward the door he came in and quietly opened the door, shut it behind himself, and then ran as fast as he could to the front doors to see the guys putting the head on the snowman.

_They sure are fast_, thought Link as he ran back around the house toward the snowbank that led further up the mountain.

If he could just get up high enough, maybe Tetra would throw in the towel and stop chasing him, so he scrambled up the snow more quickly, though not so fast as to wear himself out, until he was level with the top of the mansion. He noticed that Tetra hadn't emerged from the mansion yet, so he stayed up on the hill in case she did. At least then he would have a head start in getting further up the snow. All he had to do was wait for his sister to come outside to resume the chase.

(10 minutes later...)

_Screw this!_ thought Link, sliding back down the hill.

It was obvious she had simply left him outside while she remained indoors, a very clever method of revenge in winter time.

_If she thinks that's funny, wait till she sees what I got._ thought Link, sliding to the bottom and going back around to the front of the house to see a complete 10 ft tall snowman.

Link couldn't help being amazed, it even had ear muffs and a scarf.

His iPhone vibrated.

"Hello?" he asked, putting the phone to his ear.

"We're setting up lights in the courtyard. Come on in and help us," said Rusl.

Well at they were finally doing something Christmas-y.

"K, I'll be there in a sec," replied Link, ending the call.

He went inside and as he passed by the kitchen, he noticed the door to it was half open, so he decided to peak inside out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised to see Gramma pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven and placing the cookies on a platter, on top of other cookies she'd already baked.

"I hope you're not gonna eat all those yourself," chuckled Link.

"Actually, I plan on giving them to all the children...so I can spoil them all and take over the world," cackled Gramma, humorously, "Better get some before the kids take em."

"Good point," said Link, grabbing two Christmas cookies and running out to the courtyard where pretty much everyone was setting up lights around the courtyard.

Obviously there were no Christmas trees up here in the mountains, but the people in charge of the mansion were kind enough to leave plastic ones in several rooms, including the family room, next to the fireplace. A big tree for the courtyard, however, would have cost extra, and everyone agreed that a big tree for the courtyard wasn't really necessary, so they instead opted to decorate the tops of the walls with icicle lights.

Link went through a pair of gate doors to his left and climbed up the ladder to where Rusl and Tetra were hanging lights off the wall's edges.

"Get that other box of icicle lights and hook em up to that end," said Rusl, pointing to the other end of their wall.

"Gotcha...and here's a little something from the kitchen," said Link, handing the two Christmas cookies to Rusl and Tetra.

"GIMME!" said Tetra, snatching the cookie and making it disappear in three seconds.

"Thanks. Who made them?" asked Rusl.

"Your mom," laughed Link, referencing Gramma, who was, in fact, Rusl's mother.

He then grabbed a small box of icicle lights wired together and placed them across the top of the wall he was standing on and plugged them into the lights that Rusl and Tetra hung, connecting the two cords into one.

"All we need now is an extension cord to plug them into a power outlet," said Rusl.

"I'm on it," said Link.

(...)

After putting up icicle lights on the walls, regular lights on the balcony stands in the middle of the courtyard, and making another gigantic snowman near the back end, the place looked Christmasy enough, so everyone went back inside to take a break and collapsed on the couches and chairs in front of the fireplace.

"How are my hard workers?" asked Gramma, bringing in a large plate with Christmas cookies piled on top.

She was followed by Rose who had another plate of cookies, and Uli who had a tray full of mugs of hot cocoa and whipped cream.

"We're alot better now," chuckled Abe, taking a cookie from Rose's plate, and a mug of cocoa from Uli's.

The ladies set the plates down on the coffee table and ran back intot he kitchen to get some more. This proved to be a wise decision since all the younger kids quickly scarfed down half the cookies by the time they got back, but they'd counted on that when they made the second batch, so everyone got at least four cookies.

Link was feeling content sipping hot cocoa and eating cookies. It wasn't often he felt so at peace, and he couldn't see anything breaking that peace in the near future.

"Ready for round two?" whispered Tetra mischievously.

Except that.

Not waiting for Tetra to slip an ice cube down his sweater, Link quickly set the cup down on the table and got up with his coat and ran out the front door before Tetra could attempt anything, and continued running until he was a good 100 feet away, and only then did he look back to see no one chasing after him. That was when he realized she did it again. She'd tricked him into running outside in the snow without doing anything at all. She probably didn't have any ice or snow with her to begin with.

"I'm gonna get her!" shouted Link to no one in particular as he collapsed in the snow and sat there.

She was good at playing these kinds of pranks on him, manipulating him into doing things that got him into bad situations and it would look like she had no involvement. Worse, she could manipulat anyone to do just about anything she wanted. She was like a female version of Jekyll and Hyde, being nice whenever she wanted to win someone over, and could just as quickly and just as easily turn nightmarish if they made her angry. She was manipulative and cunning, and of all the other teens she knew, few dared to cross her since she always had some trick up her sleeve. Just once Link wished he could get back at her. Just once, he wished he had someone to help him out. But what were the chances of that happening? If there was one thing he'd learned, it was that him having a friend was like expecting a pie to fall out of the sky.

Then a noise caught his ears and he looked around for the source. It sounded like someone shouting, but he couldn't see who, but after a few seconds, it began to grow louder, and it sounded like it was coming from above, so Link turned his gaze upward, just in time to see what looked like a big black bird falling out of the sky and landing in the snow up on the mountain side. Except he didn't remember any birds going _OOF!_ when they landed.

He decided to investigate and got up and ran toward the base of the mountain where he'd been climbing earlier before going in to help with the lights and climbed as fast as he could. Normally, he would have taken his time to avoid burning himself out, but whatever was up there was buried in snow and would soon freeze if it wasn't protected from the cold, so he dug his hands and boots into the snow and continued clawing his way up the mountain, even as the side of the mountain became more steep.

He kept going until he could hear a soft moaning coming from the dent in the snow where the creature had fallen from the sky. Afew more steps up and he could see a hand sticking out of the snow. Whatever was in there was trying to get out, albeit clumsily.

"You're gonna be alright! Just hang in there!" called out Link.

The person in the snow muffled some sort of response, but Link couldn't make out what he or she was saying, so he climbed faster and faster until he was finally upon it.

He took his gloves off so he could feel around and dug his bares hands into the snow and scooped out what at first looked like a child, but Link immediately noticed that this "child" had the curves of an adult woman, and she was wearing black pajamas of some sort and had white skin, complimented by fiery red hair.

No sooner had he picked her up when her eyes immediately opened, revealing her autumn colored irises. Upon seeing Link, she just stared at him for a moment before reaching out to grab him. Link wasn't sure what she was getting at until she managed to grab his coat and pull herself toward him and curl up in his warms to shield herself from the biting cold. Upon realizing her problem, Link unzipped his coat and placed her inside to keep her warm.

Then it suddenly occured to him: What the heck was this thing? Only a moment before he'd been plotting righteous vengeance against his coniving sister, but then this...alien like creature fell out of the sky and was now clinging to him for warmth. It was so unusual and happened so fast that his head was spinning.

As a member of the Sheikah Tribe, he knew his people were constantly making all sorts of crazy things for military purposes, but this was completely beyond him, and that was just assuming that they were even behind this thing's appearance. He would have reported it to the Sheikah authorities, but he first wanted to get Tetra's input since she was well versed in such things.

He started jogging down the side of the mountain, careful to keep the pale skinned girl from falling out of his coat as he ran, but he was unable to avoid tripping, and as a result, he tumbled and started rolling down the snow bank. He curled up to protect the girl in his arms, and to keep her from falling out of his coat, until he finally came to a stop at the bottom.

"Mff? Mmm," moaned the imp in his coat.

Link slowly got up and pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and selected Tetra's number. After a ring and a half, he heard Tetra asking him what he wanted.

"Can you come outside to the front? I have something you may want to see," he said.

"Mhmm. Why don't you come inside and show it to me first." Challenged Tetra.

_You asked for it,_ thought Link, walking in through the front door.


	2. Secret Admirer

Link walked through the front doors to find Tetra waiting for him with her hands behind her back innocently.

"So where's my early Christmas gift?" she asked, smirking.

Link felt around in his coat and was surprised to find nothing there. Had he been imagining the imp? He looked up at Tetra, not knowing what to do.

"Well don't worry, I got something for you," she smirked, producing another snowball from behind her back and slammed it in Link's face, then ran away.

Link scooped the snow off his face and threw it at Tetra, but there was so little of it left that his sister hardly noticed it as she ran. However, all Link could think about was why the imp wasn't in his coat when he not only remembered putting it there, but specifically remembered feeling it only a second before it vanished.

Had he been imagining it?

The more he thought about it, the more likely that conclusion seemed. After all, not three seconds before he saw her fall from the sky, he'd been talking about how ridiculous it would be to expect the answer to his problems to fall from the sky or something. That would explain why he thought he saw something falling out of the sky. But he'd also wished he had someone to help him get back at Tetra, so that might explain why the thing he thought he saw falling out of the sky looked like some kind of person. The imp he thought he saw was probably more wishful thinking than anything else, especially since he had a soft side for small, cuddly things.

With that in mind, he decided to put aside his rivalry with Tetra so that he could enjoy the rest of the reunion with his extended family, as it only came once every two or three years. He went into the living room and noticed that everyone was either playing with the kids, setting up decorations elsewhere, or just lounging. He made his way into the kitchen, but Gramma was nowhere to be found. Orca was the only one there, and was getting something out of the fridge. Link noticed a platter on the countertop that still had a few cookies left, though they were slightly stale and hard, but it was nothing some cocoa wouldn't fix, so he got a small plate to put the cookies on and got some hot cocoa to go with it and took them back to his room, which was up the stairs and to the right from the front door of the mansion.

Upon entering, he set the cookies and cocoa down on the dresser beside his bed, but seemed to lose interest in them as he got caught up in his own thoughts. He let his head hang forward as he pondered things like the weird dreams he'd been having of a woman with red eyes, silvery hair, and a white dress. He'd had those dreams since he was 7 or 8, and that seemed weird enough, but everytime he told his parents, Rusl or Uli about it, they told him it was just a dream, rather than wanting to know more about it like any other parent would have.

Naturally, this only skyrocketed Link's curiosity and made him wonder if his two parents knew something that he didn't. After all, they were Sheikah, and the Sheikah Tribe's existence was known of only by its members. It was a tribe with many secrets, and was surrounded by many conspiracy theories, so the possibility of his own parents hiding something from him didn't seem all that farfetched. But then, he'd wondered about that for as long as he could remember, so why he continued to think on it after all this time was a mystery.

(crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch)

Link looked to his left to see that one of the cookies he'd brought with him were missing. He'd looked away only for about 10 seconds and now they were gone, but he was the only one in the room...unless.

"Is someone there?" he called out.

No response.

He knew for a fact that he had not eaten that cookie, so someone had to be in this room with him. But then again, he also knew for a fact that he'd seen something up on the mountain side. Was it possible that he hadn't been imagining the imp and that she had, in fact, been hiding this whole time?

Link twirled around, hoping to see the imp before she could hide, but she wasn't behind him.

Starting to feel spooked, Link left the room and went through the family room where Rose, Abe, Orca, Grampa Sturgeon, and Gramma were sitting, and went outside to the courtyard to get some cold fresh air into his lungs, and hopefully take his mind off whatever was going on.

Then a snowball collided with his nose.

So much for peace of mind.

"IN YOUR FACE!" shouted Tetra, who was standing 20 feet away from Link.

"Oh she's gonna pay," growled Link, kneeling down to scoop up some snow to make a snowball with. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and looked to see the imp he'd found standing beside him holding a HUMONGOUS ball of snow in her hair, which had somehow turned into a hand.

"Allow me," was all she said before flinging the icy ball at Tetra, who was also kneeling to make another snowball.

It hit her with the force of a hurricane and knocked her on her back. She raised her head to see Link standing there looking like he didn't know what happened anymore than she did.

"What? Was? That?" she demanded.

Link looked back to where the imp was, but once again, she was nowhere to be found.

_Uh oh,_ thought Link, looking back at Tetra, who was readying an even bigger snowball for retaliation.

_Here we go again,_ he thought as he turned and ran across the courtyard to the staircase at the foot of the watchtower and ran up it until he was at the double doors at the top and tried to open them, but to his dismay, they were locked.

"Not good," he said, looking back at the staircase from which Tetra would appear at any moment.

He then turned around and noticed the guard railing and got an idea. He climbed over it and hung onto the rail and lowered himself so that Tetra wouldn't see him and would think he'd gone inside the tower and locked the door.

That plan would have been perfect…if not for the ice that covered the rail Link had grabbed.

His hand slipped and he plummeted toward the snow below. He was so startled that he couldn't breathe, and therefore, couldn't scream as he fell to what would be a painful end. But as he waited for the frozen earth beneath him to slam against him, he felt a slight electrical sensation jolting through his body, followed by the feeling of laying on something soft.

Link didn't know if he was still alive, so he opened his eyes and was shocked to discover he wasn't just alive, but laying on a pile of snow across the courtyard from where he'd fallen. He watched Tetra reach the doors at the top of the watch tower and pound on them after she discovered they were locked. He then looked down at himself and saw that he was still in his own body, which ruled out an out-of-body experience.

He got up and looked around, trying to figure out what exactly landed him across the yard without getting him killed, but came up empty in his search. He felt himself, but found nothing broken or out of place, and he felt no pain anywhere, so what in the world happened?

Within Link's shadow, a certain imp sighed with relief. She would have to keep an eye on Link while he was here in the mountains, as she'd almost lost him a second time.

(...)

Several hours later, the family sat down at a long table in the dining room, enjoying a simple, but filling, dinner together. The imp in Link's shadow had taken to watching him from the safety of the shadows cast on the ceiling by the chandelier hanging over the table. She watched Link, who sat near the middle of the long table, in between Mesa and Talo, and listened intently to the conversation.

"So you brought your snowboard?" asked Talo.

"Like I'd forget. I've only been looking forward to this all year," retorted Link sarcastically as he sipped a spoonful of Elixir Soup, "What did you bring?"

"Brought my inflatable Rapid Runner sled for going down the mountain," replied Talo proudly.

"Sounds awesome. You guys should have a race," suggested Mesa, forking some noodles.

The imp focused her attention on the other side of the table where Tetra sat between Beth and Abe.

"So what are we gonna do tomorrow?" asked Beth, eating a bread roll.

Abe swallowed his food before replying "I think we'd agreed on some outdoor stuff like snowmen and sledding. Sort of a play day tomorrow before we prepare for Christmas the next day."

Next came Tetra's turn to speak, which was odd since she was usually the first to open her mouth.

"I'll take you all on in a snowboarding contest!" challenged Tetra.

"That's great, but I think you and Link were the only ones who brought snowboards. The rest of us brought sleds," replied Mesa from across the table.

"If anyone would like to use my snowboard, they're free to do so," offered Link.

"You're too kind, but I'll be just fine with my sled this year," replied Mesa.

"In that case, perhaps you should take up Tetra's offer and race her down the mountain," said Orca, who'd been listening in to their conversation.

That he wanted them to try something so hazardous was no surprise, as he was an old war veteran obsessed with making sure everyone in his family was in peak physical condition, prepared for any kind of crisis- as Hylia was a small nation surrounded by many enemies- and pushing them to overcome any obstacle that came their way, which, in this case, happened to be finding out who could win a two-person snowboard competition.

"In that case, get your white flag ready," challenged Tetra.

"Wanna put your money where your mouth is?" asked Link.

"You mean bet actual money?" asked Tetra.

"5 rupees says you can't beat Link," said Mesa, producing a blue gem from his pocket.

By now, everyone at the table had turned their attention to the two competitors challenging each other.

"Does that mean you're gonna race?" asked Beth.

A devious smirk came over Tetra's face.

"How much are you willing to bet?" she asked.

"Come on, this is a family holiday," stated Rose, "we should all be relishing the time we have together while-"

"I'm betting on Tetra!" said Abe, placing his own blue rupee on the table.

"Well I'm betting on Link!" shot back Rose, putting down her own blue piece.

Several family members busted out laughing at the sudden about-face.

"I take Tetra," said Talo.

"I'll go with Link," replied Beth.

As everyone debated who they thought was a better snowboarder, the imp spying on them from the shadows felt a strange fascination with watching the humans related to each other congregating in one spot and interacting in an appropriate and friendly manner, something which was alien to her own world. But what impressed her the most was how happy they all seemed to be with each other. They weren't just getting along, they were actually enjoying each other's company and were having fun with each other.

How she longed to be a part of it all, even if it meant being a mortal.

(…)

An hour and a half later, the family had gone to bed. The shadowy imp watched the two blonde rivals go to bed after cracking jokes at each other's short comings, then slowly drift off to sleep.

The imp hovered over Link, watching him. He looked so peaceful, like an innocent angel that could do no wrong. He also looked exactly the same as she remembered him the day they'd been separated when she'd been banished to the Twilight so long ago, and now, here she was, back in his world again. Or more specifically, here he was, since it had been almost 700 years since that day if she'd studied this world's history correctly.

She lowered herself over the sleeping blonde and ran her tiny hand across his smooth face. So much time had passed in his world, and he looked exactly like she remembered him. She wondered if he remembered her after all this time, assuming this was the same Link from before. She would have found out herself by simply asking him, but he wouldn't recognize her in this form, and if he did, he'd be repulsed by her. A wave of hopelessness washed over the small creature as she thought back to those words that shattered her heart so long ago.

_"I can't…there's someone else," he said, tears filling his eyes._

_For so long, she'd feared hearing those very words._

_"…who is it?" she asked._

_"She's…you wouldn't understand," he said, turning away from her._

He'd said so himself his heart was with someone else, so she doubted he'd want a hideous little imp like her. She hadn't a clue who the woman was, but she envied her so.

She finally laid herself down on the bed beside the man she'd adored for an eternity, watching the covers rise and fall with his soft breathing, wishing he were holding her now.

Then again, maybe he could. He wouldn't be awake to notice, so he wouldn't mind.

The imp carefully removed her fused shadow helmet and dropped it silently onto the coat laying on the floor, then slowly pulled back the covers and crept underneath them and pulled them back to their original position so as not to wake Link up, and then rolled onto her side and buried her face in his arm as she let herself sink into a troubled slumber.

_'I wish I didn't have to hide from you,'_ she thought, _'I wish I could forget all this.'_


	3. Rebirth

The first thing the imp noticed was a heavy weight on top of her, pressing her down into the mattress. Upon looking up, she realized that it was morning, and that Link had just rolled over on top of her. If he woke up now, he'd see her and likely harm her, so she'd have to warp or hide in his shadow, but she needed her fused shadow to do so, and unfortunately, she'd dropped it on the floor the previous night, and she was trapped underneath Link, which made getting the fused shadow- and hiding, in general- difficult, to say the least.

Then Link started to stir and the Imp began to panic. She couldn't let him see her.

Link lifted himself up off the mattress and the imp scrambled off and fell onto the floor. Unfortunately, she didn't land silently and Link heard the noise and looked over the side of the bed just as the imp hid under it.

Link immediately saw the helmet on top of his coat on the floor and knew right away what it was. He picked it up and went over to Tetra and nudged her awake.

"Uh…huh?" she mumbled, looking up at Link.

"Follow me," he said.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

Link held up the bizarre looking helmet for his sister to see.

"Don't ask questions, just follow me," he ordered.

Her interest peaked, Tetra got up out of the bed and follow Link out of the room.

The imp nearly swore out loud, but stopped herself when she noticed their shadows underneath the door, so she ran up to said door and pressed her ear against it and heard Link say "She also warped me to the other side of the courtyard, which is why you weren't able to catch me."

"That would certainly explain why you weren't in the tower when Mom and dad finally opened the door to it," said Tetra, "But that's only assuming that the helmet you got really does belong to this girl you mentioned, and isn't something you made up."

"Why would I make it up?" asked Link.

"I'm not saying I don't believe you, I'd just like to see this dark girl up close," replied Tetra.

At least they were calling her a girl, and not an imp.

"What I'm curious about is what this helmet thing is for," said Link.

A moment of silence passed before the imp heard Link say "Too small. Let's see what happens when Colin tries it on."

"Yep, so that nothing will happen and we can get on with our snowboarding competition," replied Tetra.

The imp listening to them didn't think mortals were affected by the fused shadow since it required magic from the user in order for it to do anything. But on the other hand, she'd never seen a non-magical light dweller wearing one, either, so she had no way of knowing what it would do to Colin, should he wear it on his head. She had to get it back from them right away.

She reached up for the knob and was just barely able to grasp it, then turned it slowly until the door opened, and she poked her head outside to see Link and Tetra disappearing around the corner down the hallway. She was about to run after them when she suddenly realized that she had no way to hide herself, should she be seen.

Of course, she had no other alternative since there was no real way to remain hidden without the fused shadow, so she'd have to be quick. She would snatch it out of their hands, put it on her own head, and warp out of there. Simple enough.

She ran down the hallway after the twins, careful to make as little noise as possible.

Link and Tetra rounded the corner, entering the family room where Colin, Talo, and Beth were seated around the fireplace.

"Hey Colin, got something you might wanna try on," snickered Tetra, taking the helmet from Link.

Just then, Link heard a pat-pat-pattering noise behind him and turned around to see the imp running around the corner.

"WHOA!" he shouted, jumping back.

The imp was so surprised that she froze, too stunned to even move.

Tetra turned around to see a small humanoid creature about 3 feet tall with white skin, red hair, and what looked like black pajamas, but what got to her the most were those red eyes. She wasn't judgmental, but it wasn't very often she saw someone with red eyes, and she'd seen too many horror movies about evil children to think positively of such creatures, especially ones that looked like they were from another world entirely, so she threw the helmet she was holding at the imp as hard as she could.

The black helmet flew across the room and collided with the small creature, knocking her out cold and sending her unconscious form sliding across the floor.

Link was at a loss for words.

"Tetra! What'd you…"

He ran over to the unconscious- and possibly dead- girl lying on the floor. She might have looked strange, but he never perceived her as a threat, and he most certainly never intended to hurt her. He picked her up and laid her down on the couch in front of the fireplace. He was a Sheikah, so he had plenty of first-aid training. He then placed his finger against her neck to check her pulse, and was relieved to feel a beat, and set to work breathing air into her lungs and pumping the air back out. Tetra, Colin, Beth, and Talo were completely dumbfounded until Colin broke the awkward silence.

"Should we tell the others?" he asked.

"Wait a moment. If she doesn't regain consciousness soon, then we'll go get help," said Tetra.

A minute had passed by, but still no response.

"Okay, go get the others. I hope they got an emergency kit with them," said Link.

"Actually, Rusl has one in his luggage. The girl should be ok afterward," replied Colin.

"Why'd you wait so long to tell us? Demanded Talo angrily.

"I forgot. Sorry," apologized Colin awkwardly.

"I'll get the emergency kit. You take the girl back to our room," said Tetra.

"Got it," replied Link, picking up the imp and carrying her back to his room.

He laid her down on his bed, then took the pillow out from under her since comatose victims weren't supposed to have pillows underneath them. While he waited for Tetra to get back with the emergency kit, he looked at the girl. Her delicate face and fragile form tugged at Link's heartstrings, and he felt a sense of dread sweeping over him. He didn't fully understand why, but he was terrified of losing her.

"Please don't die…" he whispered, before resuming the CPR routine to prevent the little girl from dying of lack of oxygen.

(…)

"Alright let's do this. Three, two, one!"

(BZZZT)

A pair of amber eyes shot open from the surge of electricity pumped through them by a defibrillator. She looked around the room, hoping to find some familiarity in her surroundings, but with no success. She realized she was in a bed and tried to recall how she'd gotten here, but discovered that she didn't remember.

Then she noticed several people in the room with her. There was a young blonde woman and a young blond man who looked a bit like her. There were also three children in the room. Two of them were boys, one having dark brown hair, and the other having bright blonde hair that split down the middle. The third child was a blonde girl who looked to be older than the two boys. But out of all of them, the one that attracted her attention was the young blonde man kneeling beside the bed she was in. His blond hair, feral cerulean eyes, and smooth peach colored face looked familiar to her. She knew he was important somehow, but she couldn't recall why, as her mind was a complete blank. However, the blonde man had a look of concern on his own face. Perhaps he knew her?

"Do I know you?" she asked.

Link wasn't quite sure what to say, as he expected any response but that. Fortunately, Tetra cut in at that moment.

"What's your name?" she asked.

The imp remained silent for a moment before replying with "I don't know."

This confused everyone in the room.

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked Link.

To her horror, the imp discovered she couldn't remember anything at all. Her mind was a complete blank.

"I…can't remember anything at all!" she stated, clutching her head.

"Not your name, home, or even age?" asked Tetra.

"No. I feel like there's something I should remember, but I can't picture it!" exclaimed the imp.

"Try to remember your name. What was it?" asked Talo.

"It's…nothing comes to mind," replied the imp.

"What sort of name do you think you had?" asked Link.

"What do you mean?" asked the imp.

"My name is Link. It sounds a bit like Lyn and it means 'connection.' What did your name mean?" asked Link.

The imp thought about it for a while, but finally said "My mind's a complete blank. I can't remember anything."

"We can't just call you 'the-midget-from-outer-space,'" said Talo.

"Talo, knock it off!" ordered Tetra.

"What if we gave you a new name?" asked Colin.

"Like what?" asked the still unnamed imp, not having any better ideas.

"Well, since you have red hair and red eyes, would 'Red' be okay?" asked Talo.

"…got any better ones?" asked the imp.

"How bout _Luna_? It sounds like 'lunar' which is a moon word, and your skin's white like the moon," said Tetra.

That did make sense, but at the same time, she knew that wasn't her name and it just didn't fit, in her opinion.

"Maybe, but do you have any other ideas?" asked the imp.

"I do have one idea," said Link "Your eyes and hair resemble the setting sun, while your skin is white as the moon. Does _Midnight_ sound like a good name?"

It didn't sound like the name she remembered having, but it did have a nice ring to it. However, it sounded a bit bland, like it was incomplete.

"That sounds good…but it sounds…a little too long," replied the imp.

"Well then how bout…_Midna_?" he suggested.

That didn't sound familiar to her, either, but it sounded much better than the other names.

"Yeah, I like that," she replied, "I am Midna, now."

"I'm Tetra," said Tetra, pointing to herself, then to the others in the room, "and this is Colin, Beth, and Talo. Colin is our brother, and Beth and Talo are our cousins."

"Hello."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Any idea where you're from?"

"Talo!"

Link tapped Tetra's shoulder and whispered in her ear "Could you get the kids out of here? I think Midna needs some space. I'll see if she needs anything."

"Oookay, just don't try anything weird," said Tetra, an eyebrow raised.

She led the kids out of the room and Link turned to his imp companion.

"Sorry about the awkward situation, but you kinda _dropped in_ unexpectedly," he said.

"Speaking of which, where exactly did I come from, seeing as how I'm not from around here?" asked Midna.

"Well, when I said you dropped in, I meant it. I was outside in the snow and you just sort of dropped out of the clouds, and I picked you up, but when I got back inside, you were gone and I thought I'd been imagining you, but then I found this beside my bed," said Link, holding up the helmet the imp had worn.

"Does this look familiar to you?" he asked, handing it to her.

Midna looked at it for a moment, then shook her head.

"Not really."

But when she took it and placed it on her head, it felt…recognizable, as if she were used to wearing it.

"It doesn't look familiar, but I feel like I've worn this before," she said.

"That's because you did," replied Link, "I saw you wearing it yesterday, but you were also floating. That helmet might've had something to do with it."

Did that mean this helmet had magic abilities? As she thought about it, her gaze shifted toward the defibrillator lying next to her, but despite the fact that it zapped her awake, all she could think about was the shadow it cast on the mattress. She had no idea why, but the object's shadow seemed…inviting…as if calling to her. She reached out to touch the shadow, and was swallowed up by it.

Whoa! She thought.

She felt formless, just like a shadow. She felt no need for warmth, comfort, or even air while she was one with an object's shadow. It was truly amazing. Yet, she didn't feel all that impressed. Perhaps it was because this was her helmet and she may have done this before. She let go of her mental grip on the shadow she was in and felt her physical form return to her.

"Did I do that already, cuz it feels a bit familiar?" she asked.

"I think so," replied Link, "It would certainly explain why you vanished after I picked you up in the snow."

(…)

Outside the room, four Hylians squabbled over what to do with this new discovery.

"We should tell the others. We don't know if she's good or bad," suggested Talo.

"Or if she's even being honest about losing her memory," said Beth.

"But if we tell the adults, they'll likely hand her over to the higher echelon and we'll never see her again. If we keep her secret, we may be able to find out if she's trustworthy or not, and then we can the adults, but for now, let's try to keep her under wraps," said Tetra.

"You mean keep secrets from mom and dad?" asked Colin.

"Just long enough to see if we can trust this Midna girl, because to be honest, I thought she seemed a little suspicious, myself," replied Tetra.

"Alright, we'll do it your way," said Talo.

(…)

Soon after, Tetra came back into the room and whispered the situation into Link's ear and they both turned to the imp sitting on Link's bed.

"We decided to let you stay with us since you can't remember anything. However, we would prefer that you not cause any trouble while you are here. Do you think you can handle that?" asked Tetra.

"I guess," replied the confused imp.

"You guys gonna come out and snowboard or what?" asked Sue-Belle from outside the room, likely in her snowsuit by now.

"Talk about eager," said Tetra, her voice hinting at rolling eyes.

"And over a bet to boot," replied Link in a similar tone.

"There's a tongue twister for you," chuckled Midna, "What exactly are you betting on?"

"Who can win a snowboarding race down the mountain outside," replied Tetra casually.

"Want to join us? You could be inside my shadow," offered Link.

"That actually sounds like fun," replied Midna.

While she couldn't remember anything prior to waking up ten minutes before, Midna felt rather excited at the idea of being apart of the family. She might not know any of these people, but they seemed nice enough, and she looked forward to getting to know this guy named Link.


	4. Ski Resort

Midna stepped out of the shower and fluffed herself dry with one of the towels available in the bathroom. She also found an extra toothbrush in one of the drawers of the sink, likely left by the mansion's owners, along with the towels and soap, so she brushed her teeth and any other part of her mouth that needed attention before extending her arms outward and letting her shadow garment appear over her dove white body. Then she picked up the stone helmet and unlocked the door before exiting the bathroom to find Link, Tetra, and the kids waiting for her.

"Any trouble using the shower?" asked Colin.

"Naw, I'm fine. I even brushed my teeth," replied Midna.

"Cool. Since you're the last one, that means we're all ready," replied Link.

Midna sank into Link's shadow and they went with Sue-Belle and Mesa to the kitchen and had baked bread filled with fruit, made by Gramma Cynthia and Sturgeon, which was also an old Hylian Christmas tradition. As they ate, more and more of the family emerged from their bedrooms. First came Rusl and Uli, along with Purgie and Jaggle, followed by Sera and Hanch. It wasn't long before everyone was up, including old Orca, and ready to start their day, which, in this case, involved going to the Snowpeak Ski Resort on the other side of the mountain. Everyone got their snow suits on and climbed into the vans waiting to take them there, which took at least 15 minutes to get to, and that was only because the vans met surprisingly little resistance from the snow and ice that would normally cause havoc on vehicles. Today, the weather was quite calm, and therefore, traffic friendly, hence the short time in getting to the ski resort, which turned out to be a village full of cabin lodges, gift shops, winter shops for getting snow gear, and even a few restaurants, all made of wood to look cabin themed, and decorated with lights and ornaments for the holiday. It also had several cable car lifts that led further up the mountain, from which several ski slopes came down from. In short, the works.

"Daaaaannng, I thought we were just going to the top of the mountain," gawked Talo.

"You're new to Snowpeak, aren't you?" asked Jaggle.

"Hey, you never told me any of the details," replied Talo, defensively.

"Which makes the surprise even sweeter," grinned his short, but stout father.

In the other van, Midna suddenly lost her grip on Link's shadow and materialized inside his coat. She tried to go back inside, but nothing happened. Her ability to hide in shadows had left her helmet, which was also stuffing Link's coat to the point of ripping it. The Blonde hylian unzipped his coat to prevent the zipper from breaking, while the imp took off what was now extra baggage and dropped it below the seats.

"Aren't you gonna hide in my shadow?" asked Link.

"I tried, but the helmet stopped working. I don't know what happened," whispered back the small girl sitting in his coat.

Link pondered that for a moment and wondered if perhaps the strange helmet had possibly run out of power. Given that the girl herself had the ability to hide in people's shadows while wearing the helmet, it was quite obvious she used magic since no known technology could do anything like that. However, he couldn't figure out why in the world it would stop working, so he couldn't help wondering if the thing needed to be recharged somehow. Sure would be nice if the girl could get her memory back soon so he could find out. As he thought this over, Midna peeked out of Link's coat at the village they'd just parked in.

"It's beautiful…" she whispered.

"If you think it looks pretty now, you should see it at night," whispered Link.

"Or on Christmas Eve," replied Sue-Belle, thinking Link was talking to her.

Link zipped his coat up with Midna inside and got out of the van with the imp's helmet under his arms. He went to the back of the van and got his snowboard and several pairs of skis and ski poles, using them to keep the helmet itself out of sight as he carried the items to a nearby lodge. As he walked up to it, Beth held the door open for him. Upon entering, he was met with the sweet smell of hot chocolate brewing, and was pleasantly surprised by the log cabin interior of the lodge. In the center of the building was a stone fireplace big enough for many people to sit around, made easier by cushy looking chairs and a few couches. On the left side of the lodge's inside were pots that contained steaming cocoa and coffee for the customers who'd made it this far. On the right side of the big room, there were several arcade games and a neon lit air hockey table for the younger visitors. There was also a staircase that led up to a wooden balcony across the room, upon which more chairs and couches were placed. There were a few teens in snow gear socializing on the balcony, some even sitting on the banister while they bantered. Below the balcony were lockers for putting ski equiment in, with benches in front of them for sitting on.

"This is my kind of place," mused Link, eyeing the cozy interior.

One of the few things Link enjoyed as much as getting together with the whole family was a nice place to spend time with them in, and this definitely held appeal. He couldn't really say why, he just liked the friendly environment, the comforting warmth of the place that welcomed those seeking shelter from the cold outside, and the hot cocoa that gave it all flavoring. Of course, that wouldn't mean as much without being able to share such an experience with his extended family. He went over to the lockers below the balcony and set the skis and poles down between the lockers, and placed the helmet inside a plastic bag he found lying underneath the bench. He then put his snowboard in a locker and took the key to the locker out of the slot and placed it in his pocket.

He turned to Uli, who was getting her skis on.

"I'd like to see if they got any good presents. You mind if I look around for a bit?" asked Link.

"Sure, do you got your cell with you?" asked Uli.

"Always," replied Link, showing her his AT&T touchscreen.

"How long do you think you'll be?" asked Uli.

"Not sure, though I do plan on checking out all the places in the area," replied Link.

"We might be going up to the summit soon. Would it be alright if we borrowed your snowboards?" asked Uli.

"Sure thing, here's the key to my locker," replied Link, handing her the locker key marked _64_.

He then carried the helmet in the plastic bag to the nearby restroom, which was designed to house one occupant at a time, locked the door, and let Midna slide out of his coat and unwrapped the helmet.

"Are you sure you can't get it to work?" asked Link, handing her the stone like hat.

"I'll try," she said, putting it on her head, once more.

However, despite her best efforts, she couldn't get herself to morph into anyone's shadow like last time, even though she was sure she knew exactly what to do.

"Nope. Still can't get anything out of it," sighed Midna, taking the cumbersome helmet off, once more.

"It might be a temporary thing, but either way, it looks like you're stuck with sneaking around in my coat…or at least a backpack," said Link, putting the helmet back in the plastic bag.

"I agree. It's pretty hard to keep from falling out of your coat," replied Midna as Link put her back in it.

"Let's see what this little town has to offer in the way of backpacks," suggested Link, exiting the bathroom.

A moment later, the door to the lodge opened, and a young blonde in a dark green snow suit stepped out. He walked down the middle of the village until he noticed a gear shop that looked quite interesting and decided to pay it a visit and walked in to see all kinds of mountain gear, from sleds and skis, to snow coats and bags of all shapes and sizes. He may have already had a backpack, but it wasn't the kind he could carry an imp in, or a stone helmet for that matter, so he needed something a bit bigger.

What did they have for hauling around an emo midget and a rock helmet?

"Looking for anything in particular?" asked a soft feminine voice.

Link looked to where the voice was coming from and saw what looked like a woman dressed in an eskimo style winter coat over near the back. From the way she was setting some boots on a shelf, Link guessed that she worked here. She might even be the owner, given that she was the only employee in sight.

"Kinda. I need something for carrying a few things in," replied Link sheepishly.

"Oh? Like what?" asked the unnamed Eskimo Lady.

Link thought of a response that didn't seem inconspicuous, but came up with none, so he held up the plastic bag that contained the stone helmet.

"I got this from one of the shops as a souvenir and was lookin to get a few other things, but I don't got anything to hold them with and I'm going to be around for a while, so I was wondering if you got a bag for that?" asked Link.

He prayed to the heavens Midna wouldn't freak out at him for bringing attention to her helmet.

"I may have something for that," smiled the Eskimo Lady, walking over to a shelf full of large backpacks and knapsacks, Link close behind.

She stopped at a brown backpack, simple by all standards, except that this one looked like it was made for the outdoors, and was big enough to carry a sleeping bag, along with a few utilities. Not only would it come in handy for carrying Midna and her helmet, but it would also carry most of his camping stuff back home, so it served more than one purpose. Link fit the helmet inside the bag to make sure it fit like he thought it would and was pleased to see that it didn't disappoint, as there was plenty of room for Midna.

"It's insulated, so your souvenirs will be kept safe from the weather," smiled E.L.

How convenient.

He checked the price tag and saw the number displayed: $109.99. Steep by normal standards, but Link had a well paying job at Sera's Sundries, along with the summer jobs he occasionally did for his neighbor, Fado, which meant he had quite a few dollars on him, not to mention some decent saving skills, so 110 dollars wasn't an issue.

"I'll take it," he said.

"Excellent," replied E.L., "Is that all?"

The blonde looked over at the snow suits lining the racks and saw some that were sized for Toddlers.

"I think there's still a few things I'd like to get," he said.

"Alright, I'll be over by the register when you're done," replied E.L.

Link went around to the boots and snow suits, grabbed a few small sized pairs of each, and knelt down by a fitting bench.

"You can come out now," he whispered.

Midna slid out of his coat and fanned herself with her hand.

"It's so hot in there, I wouldn't mind hiding in the snow," she panted.

"Trust me, you'll freeze up outside really quick," replied Link, handing her some of the snow clothes.

"What're these for?" asked Midna, not quite sure what Link was intending to do with them.

"The bag's insulated, but I want to make sure you at least have some protection from the weather, just in case the bag doesn't do a good job," whispered Link.

(...)

5 minutes later, Link walked up to the register and placed the bag and snow clothes on the desk. The total for the backpack, coat, snow pants, boots, and mittens came to $230. Now THAT was a steep price, even for a resort with a tourist economy. Link, however, reminded himself that it he still had 770 dollars leftover. Barely a dent in his personal stash, which could have been stolen, but he still had his money, so he really couldn't complain, as it could have been worse.

"You know what? I'll just knock off that extra 30 for ya," said the E.L.

"You serious?" asked Link, wide eyed.

"Why not? It's Christmas and business has been unusually good this year," smiled E.L.

"Thanks," gushed Link.

He only had to pay 200 dollars, which left him with 800. This was too good to be true. Link gladly forked over the four $50 banknotes, while the E.L. snipped off the price tags and disabled the security tags on the items so they wouldn't set off the alarm upon leaving the store, then put the snow suit and boots into the bag and handed Link the receipt.

"If you experience any problems with the merchandise, feel free to bring them back," she winked.

Link thanked her once more, then shouldered the brown bag and headed toward the exit. Upon reaching the glass doors, he turned to look back at the woman.

"By the way, I never got your name," he said.

"It's Yeta," replied the eskimo.

"I'm Link. Nice meeting you," he said, then walked out.

He headed over to another building which turned out to be a cafe. He went inside and asked where the restroom was and went where the cashier pointed. Like the one at the Ski Lodge, this one was also a single occupant type of bathroom. Link locked the door and set the bag down on the floor while Midna slid out of his coat.

"I hope you didn't come in here for what I think you came in for," said Midna.

"You mean like giving you some privacy to try out your snow suit in?" asked Link.

Midna pulled out the various articles of weatherproof clothing and put them on until she was bundled up in a black snow coat and snowpants with bluish green mittens and boots. Not a bad color combination in Link's opinion.

"Lookin good," said Link.

"Thanks," said Midna.

She then climbed into the brown backpack where she found her helmet waiting for her, while Link closed the backpack 3/4 of the way so Midna could breathe. He then stood up and let her get a feel for it.

"How is it in there?" he asked.

"So far, so good," replied Midna.

They'd already made sure Midna could fit in the bag, back at the gear shop. Link was just making sure it still worked.

"Remind me again why I have to hide when those other kids didn't seem to mind me?" asked the imp from inside Link's backpack.

It was starting to get awkward. Link hoped he could keep her out of sight before they got home.

"I don't have a problem with you, but neither do I know who you are, as I've never seen you before, and I don't know how the adults would react, so I figured it'd be best to wait until we go back home to Ordon to reveal you to my parents. That way I could show you to them without everyone else around. If they like you, then maybe they could convince the others too, as well," replied Link.

Already, he regretted saying it that way. She'd think he was telling her that she was something that needed to be hidden.

"Alright, when are you going back to Ordon?" asked Midna.

That's it? Link was expecting her to get angry, or give him the cold shoulder at the very least. Was she used to being treated this way back wherever she came from? Link wasn't really sure, but he was sort of relieved that she was taking this fairly easy. But that didn't help his own conscience much.

"I don't think you're something that needs to be hidden from anyone," said Link, "I'm just afraid everyone else will."

"What do you mean?" asked Midna.

Her tone suggested that she didn't notice anything unusual about hiding from people, which led Link to wonder how long she'd been at it. But it also made him wonder if perhaps he was making a big deal out of nothing and should have left the subject alone since she didn't seem to have any problems with hiding. Nevertheless, he'd let the cat out of the bag and was obligated to explain what he meant.

"I've never met anyone quite like you before. You do look a little unusual, which might scare everyone else. If I showed you to everyone at once, they might get nervous. But if I showed you to my two parents when we're alone in our own home, they might warm up to you faster, so I figured it would be best to wait until we got home to show you to everyone. That sound okay?" he asked.

"Makes sense to me," replied Midna nonchalantly.

Link breathed a silent sigh of relief, but at the same time wondered if perhaps she was used to hiding, which made him even more curious to know if she'd been watching him before she lost her memory, and if so, how long? Of course, as long as the imp couldn't remember, there was very little he could do about it, for now, all he _could_ do was have a good time with his new companion.

He exited the cafe and stepped out into the snow, ready to explore some more of the snowy resort.


	5. Snow Slaughter

**I would like to thank all those who reviewed (and Congie who edited this chapter). It's good to know that I finally managed to redo what was my first serious story, and do it right, this time around. My writing skills are definitely improving. I also changed the rupees in the last chapter to dollars, to avoid later confusion. ****And to answer some of your questions about possible Link/Midna romance, this chapter is where it finally picks up. Onward, loyal readers:**

Link walked with a slight skip in his step, exited the front door of the lodge he had just purchased various items from; a smile on his face. "Where should we go next?" asked Link, "There's the gift shop, the cafe, the ice skating rink, and a few other such places. Where should we go first?"

Midna thought about it for a moment before responding. "I'm not really sure since I'm not very familiar with those, what do you think?"

Link thought it through, and then came to the realization that Christmas was only two days off and he hadn't gotten a present for Midna yet; perhaps he'd better pay the gift shop a visit. Of course, he'd have to go alone so that Midna wouldn't know what present he was getting her, so he'd have to leave her with someone else while he paid the gift shop a visit. He then pulled out his touch screen phone and punched Tetra's number, and waited for her to answer.

"Yeah? What is it?" asked his twin on the other end.

"Would you mind looking after Midna while I stop by the gift shop?"

"I guess so. Why do you need to go in alone?" she asked.

"What's after tomorrow?" Link asked, unconsciously shaking his head as the line stayed silent for a few seconds before she answered.

"Oh, I get it," replied Tetra knowingly, "Bring her over to the ice rink."

"Be right there," said Link, ending the call and pocketing his phone.

"What's so special about this gift shop?" asked Midna from inside the backpack.

"I'm gonna find out," He replied.

"I mean why can't I go with you?"

"It's a surprise,"

"What does that mean?" The stowaway imp asked, poking her head out of the backpack.

"You'll see." Link winked back at her.

He then walked to what looked like a large swimming pool surrounded by safety panels. There were also many people skating around on the ice floor of the rink, mostly in a circular motion, though there were a few rebels zig zagging their way through the crowd in the opposite direction. In the cyclone of humanity, Link spotted a familiar young woman waving at him.

"That's her," said Link. Tetra skated up to Link and he handed her the bag. "Here's your new passenger."

"How much did this cost?" She asked, shouldering the pack.

"Not much; I'ma go look around for some Christmas surprises, so stay with her until I get back," said Link, walking off toward the large log cabin building with 'Snowpeak Gift Shop' displayed in red and green neon lettering.

"Any idea what he plans on getting?" asked Midna from inside the backpack.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I guess he didn't tell you either," replied Tetra, "We'll just have to wait and see."

She slowly skated toward the lodge and staggered inside and sat down on one of the leather chairs facing outward and set the backpack down on the seat beside her. Midna poked her head out of the bag and watched the people skating out on the rink through the glass wall in front of her.

"Are they running or sliding? It's hard to tell with that short wall in the way," the imp stated.

"They're called safety panels," replied Tetra, "And they're skating on the ice, using blades like the ones on my feet."

Midna looked down at the bladed boots on the blonde's feet. "How hard is it to stay upright while on those?"

Tetra replied. "Not very hard on the ice, but you'd walk funny if you used them on anything else."

"Think you can show me how to use them?"

Tetra thought about it for a moment, then answered "I think we'd better wait for Link, he's better at teaching people this stuff than I am."

Midna wasn't sure what she meant by that since it couldn't be that hard to ice skate. Either Tetra wasn't that good herself, or she just didn't like spending time around her like Link seemed to.

"Well, I'ma go get me some skittles. you want anything?" asked Tetra.

As a matter of fact, Midna was getting pretty hungry, but after Link spent $200 on her, she felt guilty letting someone buy her anything else that she replied "No thanks, I'm fine."

"Well, okay, but if you change your mind, I got plenty of change," replied Tetra, continuing toward the snack bar, near the cast iron fireplace where several skaters were warming themselves.

Midna watched them all huddled together and wished that she could be apart of something like that. More specifically, she secretly wished Link would hold her like that. Despite what she told him, she really didn't feel too comfortable with hiding from everyone. She simply thought it best to keep her objections of hiding to herself to avoid any suspicion since she knew nothing about these kids who apparently knew a bit about her, so she'd decided to keep as much of a low profile as possible, which in this case, included keeping her true feelings to herself since those were the only secrets she had left inside of her. This included hiding her feelings even from Tetra, as she knew her as well as any of the other people she was with: not at all. Link, however, looked after her like he really cared for her, and even got her a snow suit to keep her comfortable when he could have simply kept her in his new backpack. That proved to her that she was more than just a burden to him. Out of all the new faces she'd seen, Link was the only one she felt comfortable around.

She also couldn't shake the feeling that she'd known him before...

(...)

A few minutes later, Link came back to the skating lodge to find Tetra sharing a skittle or two with Midna, whose face almost lit up at seeing him.

"Whadja get?" asked Tetra, eying the plastic bag he carried.

"Actually, I got something else Midna could use that would allow her to remain outside the backpack until we go snow boarding," said Link.

"Like what?" asked Midna.

The young blonde reached into the bag and pulled out a scarf and some snow goggles small enough to fit Midna. "This would be the perfect disguise, everyone would think you're a little girl in this," whispered Link.

"That sounds perfect," replied Midna, who secretly winced inside. Again, she didn't really like hiding herself, but she thought it best to keep that to herself until Link decided it was time to show her to his parents. She then pulled down her hood and wrapped the scarf around her head until it covered most of her face, followed by the orange tinted snow goggles which blended well with her autumn colored eyes. The perfect disguise.

"At least you don't have to hide with that on," winked Link.

True. At least he was making efforts to give her some degree of normalcy, even if he didn't want her face to be seen, for whatever reason.

Link then pulled out his phone and tapped the green button to answer an incoming call, then placed the phone to his ear. "Yeah?...we're at the skating rink."

He then turned to Tetra and Midna and told them "Rusl says everyone's asking him when we're gonna race each other."

"They were serious about betting on us?" laughed Tetra.

"I think so, when should we get to it?" asked Link.

"We can go right now," replied Tetra.

Link put the phone back to his ear. "We're ready, where do we meet you guys?...you don't say...alright, we'll be there."

He ended the call and turned to his two compatriots. "Let's go ride the cable car to the summit. They already have our snowboards waiting for us since I gave Uli the key to my locker before leaving the lodge and she decided to take the snowboards up the mountain and wait for us there."

"You mean the top of the mountain?" asked Midna.

"Where else are we gonna find a killer snowboarding area?" smirked Tetra.

"Now that I think about it, what exactly is snowboarding?" The imp asked.

"Remember those boards we were carrying with us when we got out of the vans that brought us here form the mansion?" asked Link, "We attach our feet to them and slide down the mountain on them without falling off."

"I'd like to see that," She chuckled, since that did sound pretty neat, "Hope you know what you're doing."

Tetra spoke up. "Are you kidding? We're pros at this; that's why everyone's betting on us...though half of them are gonna be disappointed."

"We just gotta find out which ones," chimed in Link, picking up the backpack, though not before letting it's inhabitant hop out.

Both blondes walked toward the exit as Midna followed, pleasantly surprised that the snowsuit wasn't as difficult to walk around in as she'd expected. Although, she did have to jog a bit to keep up with Link and Tetra since they had longer legs and didn't have to work as hard at moving, but after a few moments, they reached the gondola lift station which would take them to the top of the mountain where their relatives we're apparently waiting for them. The gondola lift itself was a box like cable car with windows and cushioned seats, making the ride a pleasant viewing experience. The man operating the gondola motioned the three on-board and they entered, sitting themselves down on the seats as they waited for the ride up the mountain to start.

"Are you waiting for anyone else?" he asked, his voice muffled by his ski mask.

"No, everyone's waiting for us at the top," replied Tetra.

"Alright, hold on," said the operator, waiting for a few more people to get on before closing the door and walking back to the control room and activating the cable.

The cable car vibrated slightly as it began to move forward, then began it's ascent as the cable went upward. Midna stood on one of the seats to get a good view of the mountain side below them as they went up. The clear view of the valley below against the setting sun was simply breath taking, and the resort village of log cabins below them looked even cozier from above than it did up close. Already, Midna was feeling a bit better. She looked over at Link, who was recording a video with his phone; he aimed his phone at her and smiled, waving at her. Midna waved back, then turned to look at a fast moving object she saw out of the corner of her eye, which turned out to be a huge bird of some kind. She couldn't tell what it was, but it certainly caught everyone else's attention when she pointed to it.

"...Hey, do you guys see that really huge bird flying near us?" asked Tetra. Midna looked over at her and noticed she was talking on her cell phone. Most likely, she was talking to the others waiting for them at the other end of the gondola.

Another five minutes of oo'ing and ah'ing at the impressive landscape, and the cable car finally reached its destination at the summit of Snowpeak Mountain. Midna climbed back into Link's pack while everyone's attention was still directed outside and the small crowd exited the cable car. The two blondes were greeted by hordes of cousins eager to see them racing down the ultimate sledding hill, and twice as many adults betting on them with an outdated currency used only by their tribe.

"Bout time you two showed up, I was just about ready to push Sturgeon down the hill," rasped Orca, who was hugging himself to keep warm, despite the puffy snow suit he had on.

"Just try it, fishy," shot back his younger and shorter brother, getting into a mock fighting stance, much to the amusement of the children.

"So now we're betting on a senior citizen brawl?" chuckled Jaggle, making a few others hoot with delight.

"That I'd like to see," laughed Tetra, a certain imp agreeing with her.

"But first, I wanna see some snow slaughter!" declared Sue-Belle, her gloved fist raised in the air.

Snow slaughter was a nickname kids had long ago invented for a snowboarding race down a long, steep hill with real risk of injury, hence the name.

"Alright, lemme take this off," said Link, removing the backpack and setting it aside, not wanting Midna to get hurt should he take a tumble.

The two blondes then looked around for the best spot to race each other on and decided to make their first round down the front side of the mountain, straight to the resort at the bottom where they'd slide right into civilization and would be at the foot of the cable car to take them back up. Their next slide would be down the left side, which went down toward the side of the mountain which was walled off at the edge, still relatively safe, but it was further away from the resort, and would provide more of a challenge involving running through the snow. Their third and final slide down the mountain would be to the right, toward the steeper side of the mountain which was not walled off.

"You know everyone's gonna freak out when we get that close to the edge, right?" asked Tetra.

"But just think of how impressed they'll be when we pull it off," smirked Link.

"You got a point," agreed Tetra, feeling the Daredevil awaken inside of her.

Then a thought occurred to her. 12 rupees was quite a Christmas present they were being offered the chance to win, especially since rupees were rare and very valuable in this day and age. And while the Sheikah traded them regularly, they didn't bet them on things as trivial as a snowboarding contest, so perhaps this bet was a subtle way of giving them enough money to begin their futures as adults since they were at that age.

"Sheikah normally don't just give their children money when they leave the house, like other people, so perhaps this is some kind of test to see who is more worthy of getting the money to begin their next stage of adulthood first," inquired Tetra.

"And that would be me," smiled Link.

He would have wished his sister good luck, but her reply would almost certainly been sarcastic, so he was hardly inclined to politeness in this case, especially when he'd need to be as competitive as possible if her theory was correct; she had a habit of being right about these things.

"Winner takes all the shinies," Tetra replied, referencing the rupees everyone was betting on them.

Whoever won would have enough money to buy their own house, and still have a bit left over.

"You're on," replied Link, shaking her hand.

They walked back to the crowd of relatives who started whooping in support of their candidate while they strapped the boards to their feet. Midna watched them from the safety of the backpack as they mounted the tip of the hill they were about to slide down. Their first challenge would be simple, but it would get harder from there on out.

They looked back at the family and raised their fists in a go team gesture and everyone whooped in response.

Their fists simultaneously stuck three fingers outward, then folded in the first one to begin to the countdown.

Three...

A second finger folded inward.

Two...

This was it. Both of them bent forward.

One...

The two competitors dug their rear feet into the snow, pushing themselves over the edge and into the race of a lifetime.


End file.
